“Who is Miss Bennet?” asked the colonel.
“The friend I told you about.”
“A friendship of a few hours,” said Darcy. “We know nothing about her.”
“You may not, but I do. She told me a lot about herself. She lives in a place called Meryton, in Hertfordshire. Her father owns an estate called Longbourn. If you really want to make me happy, as you claim you do, William, then you will find her for me.”
She stood up and stormed from the room.
Richard watched her go, then leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head.
“You know, perhaps it is time to listen to her and find out more about this Miss Bennet. Your sister is very angry at you. She has told me the whole story, and I must admit I have my doubts that a well-bred young lady would come to your house expressly to steal a vase.”
“I have my doubts as well, but there is more to the story than that, as you know.” Darcy gave him a brief account of his meeting with Wickham. “How do you explain that she was acquainted with him?”
“You know Wickham cannot resist a pretty lady – that is, assuming she is pretty.”
Darcy thought about it. Her dark eyes lingered in his mind. She had long dark eyelashes, a pleasant kind of face and deep chestnut curls. She would not turn heads when she walked into a room, but she did have something about her that attracted attention.
“Yes. I would say she is handsome.”
“Then there is your explanation. It is simple. They were both at the inn, he found a way to introduce himself to her. Nothing more.”
“She confided in him. Shetoldhim what happened in Pemberley.”
“You know how charming Wickham can be. He may have coaxed the story out of her. Did you make further enquiries about her?”
“Yes, but since they left the next morning, and stayed one day, there is very little information. Her uncle and aunt looked like respectable, fashionable people, but the innkeeper said her uncle is in trade. A Mr. Gardiner.”
“Did he ask for credit?”
“No, he paid directly.”
“There you are. That does not sound like someone who needs to steal from people’s houses.”
“He could be wealthy for many reasons, including theft. I do not see why you are so determined to defend her,” said Darcy, irritably.
“I want my ward to be happy. What is wrong with that? For some reason I do not yet understand, she seems very set on having Miss Bennet stay with her. Why not indulge her, for once? She doesn’t usually ask for things.”
“I cannot indulge Georgiana’s every whim, Richard. She wanted to go to Ramsgate, I agreed. She wanted to hide in Pemberley, I agreed. Now she wants to take in a casual acquaintance who may or may not be a thief and may or may not be connected with Wickham. Even if Miss Bennet is perfectly innocent, Georgiana cannot expect people to be at her beck and call, especially strangers. Georgiana has to learn she cannot have whatever she wants.”
“Under ordinary circumstances, I would agree. But Darcy, think! She has suffered a huge blow to her pride and her feelings. She is an orphan and has no one else to look after her besides you and me. She has no friends. She is lonely, Darcy. I say give her this chance, if it is feasible.”
“What do you expect me to do? Ride to Longbourn, get down on my knees, and beg for Miss Bennet to come and live with my sister?”
“Something like that. But not yet. First, I intend to find out more. I am prepared, for Georgiana’s sake, to go to Meryton and make some enquiries. Call it a scouting mission. Heaven knows I have done enough of those on the Continent. It is just a half day’s ride. If I discover that Miss Bennet is a respectable young lady from a good family, perhaps we can convince her to come to London for a while and spend some time with your sister. What do you think?”
Darcy sighed. “You make it sound as if Miss Bennet is the key to everything.”
The colonel shrugged. “If it will make Georgiana happy, then what harm can it do? The worst that might happen is that Georgiana will tire of Miss Bennet, and then we will have to find a way to get rid of her. Or we can set a time – say a month – and see how that works.”
Darcy did not like the idea at all, but with his cousin arguing so strongly in favor of it, he could not dismiss it out of hand.
“It is too early to talk specifics yet. If you come back from Meryton satisfied that Miss Bennet will do, then we can discuss the idea in more detail. Until then, I will continue to believe her untrustworthy. You will have to convince me otherwise.”
As he waited to hear from his cousin, Darcy found himself spending an incongruous amount of time thinking about Miss Bennet. She was a puzzle, and for him to solve it, he had to dwell on the details of their short interactions. It was disconcerting, because the pieces did not fit together to form any kind of picture. He disliked uncertainty in general. She had come into his life – and Georgiana’s – and brought chaos in her wake.
That was one way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it was that Miss Bennet had brought a measure of happiness to his sister, and that he was the one who had disrupted things. Either way, in one afternoon, she had brought change, and he did not know how he felt about that.
